S'pore police warns of phone scammers impersonating MDDI government officials

Got a call from a Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) "official" asking you to provide personal details or to transfer money?

This is a government official impersonation scam, said MDDI and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a joint release on Jan. 5.

MDDI also said in a Facebook post regarding the scam that MDDI officers will never call members of the public to ask for their personal information.

How the scam works

In this variant, victims would receive a call from scammers claiming to be MDDI officials, the release stated.

These calls could be made from local numbers.

The scammers would allege that the victim’s Singapore mobile number had been misused in job scam advertisements in Malaysia.

The fraudsters may also try to transfer the victim to a "Malaysia Interpol" official.

In such scams, the scammers would ask victims to share their personal particulars and banking credentials, or to transfer money into a bank account provided by the scammers.

Other scammers would claim to be officials from other agencies like the SPF, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) or SingCert.

Govt officials won't ask for such things over the phone

In the release, authorities said that government officials will never ask members of the public over the phone to transfer monies to them, provide personal or banking particulars, or install non-government mobile apps from unofficial app stores.

Officials will also not transfer calls to the police, except in cases of life-threatening emergencies.

More than S$120 million was lost in 2024 to scams involving the impersonation of banks and government officials.

At least 1,100 such cases were reported from January to October 2024, which is almost double the at least 680 cases reported in the same period in 2023.

How to avoid scams

Members of the public are advised to adopt precautionary measures to safeguard against scams, such as using the ScamShield app and website, and enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) or Multifactor Authentication for online accounts.

They are also advised to tell the authorities, their family and friends when they encounter scams.

Those with information relating to scams, or who are in doubt, can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit a report online.

More information on scams can be found on the ScamShield website or via the ScamShield Helpline, 1799.

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Top image from MDDI/Facebook